THE BOOK OF POEMS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY ... - TopReferat

sixth poem, only incessant prayer is capable of building up the walls of a cathedral to
make it impervious to thieves and demons. 256
In addition to opening Lavinia up to possible invasion, this gap also allows for her
full entry into the world. The fifth poem concludes with the following lines:
И смотрит Ангел милосердный—
Как чрез него хрипя, с трудом
В мир выезжает Всадник бледный.
And the merciful Angel watches
As through [this gap], wheezing, with difficulty
The pale Rider exits into the world.
These final images point back to the book's opening poem, "Ипподром," which describes
a horse, wheezing and grown pale: 257
Слова копытами стучат. В средине дров
Расколется пылающее сердце.
Как машут крыльями, свистят
Ночные демоны, мои единоверцы.
Вот я бегу меж огненных трибун
Подстриженной 258 лужайкой к небосклону,
И ставят зрители в сиянье и дыму,
Что упаду—один к мильону.
На черную лошадку—на лету
Она белеет и тончает,
Хрипит, скелетится, вся в пене и поту,
И Бог ее, как вечер, догоняет.
Words thunder like hooves. In the middle of the wood
The flaming heart will split.
As they wave their wings,
The night demons, my fellow-believers whistle.
Here I run among the fiery stands
256 Goldstein has described this vulnerability to outside forces in Goldstein, "The Heart-Felt Poetry," 242.
See also my previous discussions of these poems.
257 The image of the pale rider also recalls the apocalypse.
258 The word "подстрижженый" refers not only to the clipped lawn, but also suggests Lavinia's monastic
vows.
193